Search - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ildiko Hegyi, Concentus Hungaricus :: Mozart: Piano Concerti 1-4

No Qualms

Leslie Richford | Selsingen, Lower Saxony | 01/15/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This lovely little disc, recorded in April and May 1991 in Budapest, has long been one of my favourites, and on an earlier review for Amazon?s German-language website I confidently gave it five stars and an all-round recommendation. If I reduce that here to four stars, it is only because I have to admit that Robert Levin?s 1998 recording with the Academy of Ancient Music directed by Christopher Hogwood has the edge over the Naxos, both as far as the documentation is concerned and also with regard to the interpretation (Levin plays a harpsichord, not a piano, and improvises his cadences, a practice that is definitely historical) and the engineering. But having said that, if you are looking for Mozart?s early pasticcio concertos in a lively, well-recorded version on modern instruments and at budget price, you should have no qualms about purchasing the Jandó/Hegyi version which offers 55 minutes of all-round listening pleasure: this playing gives one an idea of the energy, skill and cheekiness of the young pianist/harpsichordist Mozart on his early travels. And although the music is based on sonatas by other composers, please do not assume that there is no Mozart here: the pieces were not only orchestrated but also changed considerably by the young Wolfgang, working hand in hand with his father Leopold, in whose handwriting most of the autographs appear to be."